First New Top-Level Domains Added To the Root Zone
angry tapir writes "The Internet – or at least its namespace – just got bigger. Four new top-level domains have been added to the Internet's root zone. The four new gTLDs all use non-Latin scripts: 'web' in Arabic, 'online' in Cyrillic, 'sale' in Cyrillic, and 'game' in Chinese. In total, the generic top-level domain process run by ICANN will result in the expansion of top-level domains from 22 to up to 1400."
And phishers everywhere rejoiced
Actually no. This is just the English words "online" and "site" (not "sale") transliterated into the Cyrillic script. A lot of languages that are written in the Cyrillic alphabet use "online" and "site" as loan words from English, the new TLDs will fit all of them.
As a state gets corrupt, its laws multiply; the most corrupt states have the most numerous laws. (Tacitus, Annales 3:27)
These new domains seem to split the internet, unless the pages can be read by the English speaking world. Maybe that's the idea, but it seems to move away from the intent of a universal internet.
Right now there are many millions of websites I can't read because I don't speak Chinese, Korean, Russian, etc. etc. etc.... There can be no "universal Internet" unless everyone speaks the same language, which is never going to happen.
Not to mention there are many in English that I don't understand; on genetic sequencing, quantum effects, plasma physics, etc.